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"This is gonna be a bad one." Jensen gritted his teeth together and made a face. "Better sit this one out, Frankie," he added tersely.
Frank Parker shot his partner a quick frown at the comment, and then turned his attention back to the problem at hand. The stainless steel cylinder was about three feet long with a single seam at the halfway point of its length, obviously where it had been joined. The question before them was threefold: did the two halves screw together, or would they come apart by pulling on the ends, and were there any "gotchas" to bite the two disposal experts in the butt as they attempted the defusing.
"They pull apart." Jensen decided aloud. "The cylinder is machined, but threading would add an unnecessary extra layer of work."
"Plus, he would have to screw it together to assemble," Parker added. "Extra risk. You're right I think."
They lifted the bomb carefully up and away from where it had been placed, slowly, being careful to keep it level. When they had the device at waist level, Jensen said, "I'll pull. You hold."
Gently, Jensen applied pressure, pulling his end of the device toward him, while Parker, braced, gripped his end firmly, securely. Sure enough, the two halves separated easily, making an unnerving popping sound as they came apart.
Four wires connected the two halves to plates inside each piece. Red, yellow, green and blue, each connected to a different plug, as though this were the last task the bomber had performed before the final assembly. Each half also sported a large number LCD timer readout. Jensen's was counting down and had three minutes left to go, Parker's was counting up and had three minutes to go to reach 24 hours. There were four on-off switches on each, all set in the "on" position.
"What do you want to do?" Parker's voice betrayed his tension. He was the junior partner so the call went to Jensen.
"You make the call, kid." Jensen said. "It's 50/50 at best. Get it right and I buy the beer."
"Get it wrong and we both buy the farm." Parker added grimly. Information from training and experience flooded through his consciousness in microseconds. Everything he had learned about bombs and bombers up to this moment. As the timers ticked, beads of sweat trickled down his cheek.
"Pull all the wires but red and position switch one to off."
"Which is switch one?"
My right, your left. Do it on my count. Three, two, one, now."
Their hands moved deftly. In an instant it was over. The timers froze. The half cylinder held by Jensen emitted a hundred decibel screech like a siren from hell had just connected to a thousand volt battery.
"Dump the other switches now!" Parker shouted above the din. But Jensen did not move. Keeping his own cylinder level, he stepped into arm's length from his partner and dropped the switches on Jensen's cylinder to the off position. Then, he jerked out the red wire, flinging it away from them both.
The screeching stopped.
"Keep it level." Parker advised. "It' could be still hot."
Two carry teams came forward with secure boxes into which the halves were carefully placed. Smoothly and efficiently they were secured and taken away.
"Not so bad." Parker commented.
"Not bad at all." Jensen agreed. "Guess I owe you a beer."
Sudenly a shrill pulse of beeps shattered the silence between them. Both men's eyes were drawn to the sound and both saw the second cylinder, this one as black as the wall of the oil tank to which it was magnetically attached. Invisible, it had been, now it was plain as day.
"God, how did we miss that. . ." Parker said in amazement.
Five beeps later, everything went white.
***
Captain Grillo stood in front of the blackboard on which was chalked a diagram showing bomb placement, blast pattern, kill zone and wind direction.
"Our bomber set two devices," Grillo was saying, "stainless and black. Our team failed to catch the second device until the warning. When it went off, taking out both team members. . ."
He paused, until the laughter subsided, then continued. " Gentlemen, if that had been C4 and not flour, we'd be at a funeral right now. Take NOTHING for granted."
A general affirmation rumbled through the classroom.
"Learn from training mistakes." Grillo concluded. "Dismissed"
Somebody said, "Parker and Jensen are buying the beer."
"This time." both partners said at the same instant. Seconds later the room was empty.
(c) 2003 by Bob Liddil.
All Rights Reserved
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